Method of sealing and capping bottles.



S. G. BOND. METHOD OF SEALING AND OAPPING BQTTLES.

APPLICATION TILED 1'33 S, 1908.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

2 BHEiSTB-BEEIZT I;

F I E 1- 33132 33 Q mwa,

vh amus tie; then whi e T bottle of such an excess of 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL C. BOND, OF WIIMINGTON, DELAWARE, ASICvXOIl, BY MESNE ASSIGXMENTS, TO

BOND BOTTLE SEALING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE- METHOD OF SEALER AND CAPPING BOTTLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 396,988.

Serial N0. 414,065.

Original application filed October 11, 1907,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. Boxn residing at lVilmington, in the county of Bewcasllc and State of Delaware, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Methods ol-Sealing and Ca )ping Bottles, of which improvements the following is a specification.

The invention is particularly applicable to the scaling of bottles, jars etc. by means of a sealing medium contained in a metallic cap, the latter being provided with a depending flange or fingers which are caused to engage an exterior head or other suitable pro'ection or rejections at or near the lip of the ttle, anti thereby hold the sealing medium firmly upon the bottle-mouth.

In the methods now commonly practiced of applying this class of souls to bottles, the first step consists in applying pressure upon the top of the cap, so as to com ress the sealing medium ti 'htly upon the i of the botthe cap and te bottle are subjected to this sealing pressure, which where the confined contents of the bottle will generate a high pressure must be considerable, the inst-rument-alitles for locking the cap flange to the bottle are brought into operation, and additional pressure is thereby brought to bear upon the neck of the bot tie. These combined ressu-res frequently break the bottle. Furtiier, as bottles of any class or capacity vary considerably in height, it has been necessary to so construct prior bottle-sealing machines that they will be capable of exercisin presure upon the s iortest bottle. This has rendered necessary the emplovrnent of springs or other compensating erices, in order to prevent the application to a longer ressure as will break it. Such compensating derices not only increase the. complexity and costof the machine, but they are dithcult of accurate adjustment, and therefore often fail to perform their intended function. Also in many cases where the bottle is no't'actually broken, there has been an excess of pressure sutli cient to cause the lip of the bottle to fracture the sealing dish winch often results in an imperfect seal. n someprior machines, also, the instrumentalities employed for locking the necessarr sealing Patented Sept. 16, 1908.

Divided and thin application flied February 3, 1908.

the ca flange to the bottle are operated or controlled by the seal-compressing means, so that ah increase in the sealing pressure will cause an increase in the constricting pressure applied to the flange of the cap, which will sometimes be 'suilicrent to pinch oil the top of the bottle.

It is the object of the present invention to overcome these diIlicult-ies, and I accomplish this purpose by the method hereinafter described, whcrem the seating of the cap and its contained sealing medium upon the lip of the bottle is attained by means of force applied to the flange of the cap, and acting in a direction substantially lengthwise of the'bottle. The degree of force so applied is preferablr measured by the resisting wer of the metal of the cap-flange, and can t ms bemade a constant quantit sufiicientto accomplish a tight seal upon the lip of the bottle, while the application of destructive excess pressure is prevented. Vthen the metal of the capflanqe yields to the applied force, it is preferab y caused to eng a e in looking contact with the usual exteriorlead'or projection on the bottle-mouth. I v a In the practice of my invention I- have also found that effective sealing can be accomplished with sealing disks and caps of less weight than have heretofore been employed.

VFhile the method which forms t e sub- {est-matter of the present application is not imited in respect of mechanism or ap liances which ma be employed in its practice, it will be descri edas carried out by the use of mechanism also invented by me, and

which forms the sub'ect-matterof an application for Letters atent filed by me on October 11th, 1907, Serial No 396,988, of which this a plication is a division. It will be noticed tiiat in this machine I have been able to dispense with the usual seal-coinpres ing plunger and all compensatin devices, as unnecessary in" the practice 0 my method. The machine has thus been materially simplified, while it is at the same time enabled to act positively and with uniform'ity in each sealing operation, and with uniform results.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification Fi u're 1 is an olevation of the said machine; igs. 2 and 3 are sectional views on an enlarged scale of the bottle-mouth.

pivotal points 0 parts of the machine directly operative upon ig. 2; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illus-.

trating a modification in the construction of the capping devices; and lug. 6 1s a sectional detail showing means for supporting hand-fed caps i position to-receive the While in' the practice of my invention either the head carrying the devices operative upon the cap, or the bottle itself, ma be moved one relatively to the other, to e feet the sealing operation, I have shown mechanism whereby the sealing head is moved down while the bottle is supported upon a table.

The operating mechanism consists ofa power shaft I mounted in suitable bearings near the base of a hollow standard 2. v The shaft is rotated by suitable means, as the pulley 2 loosely mounted on the shaft, but adapted to engage the latter through a clutch mechanism 3, which is operated by a treadle 4. On the shaft is secured an eccentric 5 surrounded by a strap 6, which is connected to the rod 7 passing up through thcstandard 2, and having the head 8 se cured to its upper end. The bottle to be capped is supported upon a table 9, carried by the sleeve 10 surrounding the standard" 2, and adapted to be secured thereon at dif Tercnt points dependent on the height of the bottle 0 erated on.

It w' 1 be readily understood by those skilled in the art, that other forms of mechanism than that shown and described can be employed to shift the sealing-head of the bottle-supporting table.

l The head 8 is formed in part by shell 11, having an enlarged lower portion for the reception of the radially slotted annular block 12, which is held in position by the annular plug 13, removably secured to the shell ll.

he inner walls of the plu are made flaring so as to serve as a gui e for the bottle.

Struts or fingers. 14 are so pivotally supported in the slots in the block 12, which has an internal diameter somewhat greater than the greatest diameter of the cap, that the portion of said struts designed to engage the cap will be in a plane below the plane of the.

the struts, and will lie in a circle havin a diameter intermediate of the greatest an least external diameters of the ca These struts are held from outward ra ial movement, so that when their inner ends are shifted relatively to their pivotal points, by en agement with the flange of the cap, such enils will move in towards a.eommon center, until they bear against; the side walls of the cap as hereinafter described. These struts are preferably V-shaped, and

proper operative positions.

-if desiret the lare pivotally supported at or adjacent to their spices. [n the construction shown their n-pices progect between rings 15 arranged in groovesformed in the outer periphcry of the block 12, said rings bein 7 0'" s )lit as indicated at 30, Fig. 4, to permit 0 their easyinsertion into the grooves. While the normal position of .the struts may be determined by anv' suitably arranged stop,

against which the struts will move after a 7'5 cap has been secured on a bottle, it is preferred to control the return movements of the struts b means 05 a sleeve 16 freely movable in the s tel] 11, and provided at its lower end with a flange 17 adapted to project between $0 the legs of the struts. This sleeve'normally rests on a shoulder 18 formed on the inner tion the upper legs of the struts will-rest on" the-flange 17, and thereby hold the struts in s5 This construction whereby the struts are held in irop'er normal position is preferred, as 1t.w1 l erformanother very important function, L. e.

insure the simultaneous movement or operation of all the struts. K

It has been found in practice, th t at times the flange? or portion of the cap with which the struts engage, will break down stone or more places in advsnceof other portions, and when this occurs, the cap can move towards the side first. broken down, and therebyhhift the flange on. the opposite side either entirely from under the struts or to such extent prevent: the cap locked u on the at that oint. employer to ment of any of the struts.

The sleeve 16 hav ng the flange 17 engag-- Hence suitab a means a e ing as it does the struts 14, will thus perform the triple function of insurin the simultane prevent. any independent move ous and equal movement 0? all the struts,

insure the return of the struts tonormal osition, and hold them there. When the mner ends of the struts are moved by engagement with the cap, the sleeve 16 Wlll rest on the lower legs and by its wei ht will cause the struts to return to normal or operative position, after the cap has been secured on the bottle.

The cap which I employ is provided with an outwardly flaring flange a, preferably, as shown at approximately right angles to the axis of the cap.

For the admission of the cap to the head, and supporting it in proper position therein, I provi e the passage 19 in the plu 13, termlnatin in their ge- 20, Figs. 2 an 3. Or, 13 may be provided with radial sprin stones 21, as shown in Fig. 6.

In 0 eration, a cap being suitably supported 1n the head, and a bottle having been placed on the table 9, the head 8 is moved down, the cap and neck of the bottle passing through the plug 13. As the struts are so 130 always be 'atisuflicient distance from the bot l constructed and arranged, as herein stated, movement of the struts is prevented by a' that the portions operating on the cap, ie i; the comers 2', which are preferably rounded, are in a. circle of a diameter intermediate ot' the least and greatest diameter of the cap, 51 the corners a: will in the downward movei ment of the head bear upon the fla e a- As the head continues to move down an the f? cap contacts with the bottle the struts will 1; be shifted upwardly, causing their inner ends 5* 'to move in until the portions y thereof bear l;

against the side wall .of the cap above the flange. As the struts are, then locked as against any further upward movement, the-j continued downward movement of the head will draw the ca down over the endpf the E bottle-neck, foremg the scaling disk b firmlyagainst the lip of the bottle. The downward. i

ull on the cap is continued with constantly increasin force, until the flange a is broken 5 down. l n the breaking down of the flange. l the corner c at the junction of the side' wall l and flan o of the cap, is forced inward under l the head or shoulder d of the bottle. The sliding down of the walls y of the struts will 1 wipe the flange a down towards, but nohi against, the neck of the bottle below thel bead, as no part of the struts pas in under; the bead, or approach any nearer the bottle l than at the instant of the breaking down of the llange, so that portions of the cap will! tle to permit of its being caughtby an un-g capping too]. As soon as the flange breaks l down, the struts will drop or be forced back. to normal position, and will be entirely out of contact with the cap or bottle. In other words, the com letion of the act of locking it the cap on the ottle prevents the exertion. of any further pressure thereon. It will alsobe noticed that if the head 8 should be lowered over the mouth of the bottle without a. cap havin been placed in position, no pres- 5'; sure will e exerted u on the bottle. The bottle is not subjecte to any pressure org force except such as is incident to and in-l volved in the operation of locking the cap j. thereto. And since the pressure exerted ii; seating the sealing disk on the month of the bottle is thus made proportional to the re sistance presented by the flange to flexure or 1 breaking down, this can be made substantially the same on all bottles capoed, irre-{Q s ective of variations in height of the bottles tiiemselves.

In Fig. 5 is shown a construction, wherein. the struts l4, when in normal :ition, have i a. pivotal bearing on the shou der 22 on the if plug 13, and an annular weight 2- bears upon. This weight will yieldingly holdthe stints in such posli:

the outer ends oi the struts.

t-ion as to permit of a cap being pushed into the yielding. ring formed b. k the corners :c of the struts where it will be eld in position to receive the end ofthe, bottle. Out-ward.

depending flange 25 on the annular weight.

claim herein as my invention: i l. "he method of a plying flanged'sealing caps to bottles, whic consists in exerting:-

force upon the flange of the cap only in a,

si le intermediate peri heral line to seatth'e" at? y of the cap in fin sealing position on the lip of the bottle, and bend the flange of the lcap into locking engagement With i116 bott e.

2. The method of applying flanged milin caps to bottles, which consists in causing the cap to rest upon the lip of the bottle, gri ping the flange of the cap, projecting t e ottle and an a ainst the ri in strain to- P g 8 PP g the cap in sealin contact bottle to release the cap and bottle from further pressure.

3. The method of a plying flanged sealing caps to bottles, whici consists in ripping the fllangc of the cap peripherally on ly, orcing t- 1e with the lip of the bottle by bodily movement of the gripping means, and bending the flange of the cap into en agement with the bottle by contraction of the gripping means.

4. "he method of a plying flanged sealing {CH-PS to bottles, whici consists in gripping the cap peripherally only and by a movement of the gripping means seatin the cap infinal sealing position on the lip o the bottie and locking the flange in engagement with the bottle.

Jody of the cap mto sealin contact 5. The method of applying sealing caps to 1 lengthwise of the bottle, and in such movement locking the cap in sealing engagement with the bottle and releasing the cap from engagement with the seal-applying means.

6. The method of applying sealing caps to bottles, which consists in imparting a movement to the cap and bottle in a direction lengthwise of the bottle and iii such move :ment gripping the cap, locking it in sealing position on the bottle, and releasing the cap rom engagement with the gripping means.

7. The method of applvin sealing caps to" bottles, which consists in periphcralh grip- Plflg the cap, automatically varying the up 5, in proportion to the resistance prcsente by the cap, and by a movement of the gripin means and bottle sealing the cap in fine. sea ing position on the lip of the bottle and lockin" the flange in engagement with the bottle. n testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

SAMUEL C. BOND.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. G. GARRETT, Tnno. W. Tamas. 

